Aside from local delivery, cans are destiny it seems if wide distribution is a goal. Yes, the price remaining the same was a bummer. No, I have not stopped buying them
All this barleywine talk made me thirsty. Bourbon Barrel added Brick Kiln. Heavy, luscious and delightful.
Humble Forager/Barrel Theory collab Cedar 33mo BBA English Barleywine, 14% ABV. Barrels are Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Willett Rye. Brewed by Brewing Projekt. I rated this 2024 beer 4.55, but I may have underrated it. Drinking pretty damn good, and so is this beer.
Last night about 4 AM I drank a 12oz can of Lakefront, Kitchen Sink Barleywine, bourbon & rye barrels, 12.6% At first I thought it was just OK but as I finished the can I realized I made a mistake and maybe should have bought a 24 can flat. It is different and not heavy duty. easy drinking. Its sweet and malty and on the syrupy side of thickness. Toffee, vanilla, oak, mild rye and something else maybe butterscotch and almond. I will rate it after drinking more cans. 4.06/5 ?, seems like it's under rated. https://untappd.com/b/lakefront-bre...ywine-aged-in-bourbon-and-rye-barrels/6514962
For this old man it would be "This morning when i got up a 4 AM i cracked a ..." with Jim Morrison singing out that morning beer song Fortunately or Unfortunately i am disciplined enough not to be sneaking a beer before the wife is up. Made a stop at North Coast Brewing yesterday and picked up a really interesting barleywine that started in 2012 as NCBC's base contribution to the Class of '88 ABW collaboration with Rogue and Deschutes. This brew sat in bourbon barrels for 6 years and was packaged in 2019. In chatting with the gift shop dude, he says this hardly moves and he still has cases left. At $12.95 for a 500ml bottle it appeared worthy of a shot. And it is. The flavors have developed nicely as the caramel and toffee shine thru with a touch of brown sugar. The barrel lends heat and a touch of vanilla. It was a tad thin but overall the nose and flavor were very good - rated 4.19 (my class of '88 score was 3.71). If we end up back at NCBC, i will definitely pick up several more bottles at that price point. Cheers from Lake County, CA! Tom
Ever Grain, a local brewery with a small but stellar barrel program finally released another barleywine. Two Urns is a blend of barleywines aged 20 to 36 months in oak bourbon barrels then rested on vanilla beans. This is excellent. The vanilla is a subtle addition allowing caramel, figs, oaky tobacco, and the sweet, sweet bourbon to shine.
For all intents and purposes Old Ale fits this thread. 8/15/2018 Founders Better half. Super silky body. Tastes just like pancakes balanced with great rich old ale malt/molasses complexity, a bit of the booze of 12.7% and barrel is more pronounced. I really hope they release this again. Cheers
A rare Founders beer that I believe got much better when aged. That beer fresh was not one that I liked, so I pushed a few to the back of the coolerator for a few years instead of just dumping them. What a revelation when I opened one. Cheers.
Nice, Tom! I've seen that on their website for a few years. I'll be stopping by in July and will grab one if they are still there. Sounds interesting!
Ewwww I completely forgot about my bottle haul from Temporal . I have that Double Barrel Aged Barleywine from them that i gotta open... or maybe I'll save it for our bottle share in 2057
A recent post from @ovaltine prompted to buy a pack of Blithering Idiot for the first time in a long time. Thanks for the nudge, I'm enjoying this undated bottle. My 19 year old review calls this sugary, I definitely would not say that today. The sweetness is subdued with a lot of layers at work here. Light fruitcake, apricot marmalade, toffee, and light, fruit skin bitterness all blanketed by gently warming booze. Weyerbacher was my intro to the world of big beer way back when. I currently have this and Sunday Morning Stout on hand, glad they're still getting it done!
